The Walking Dead and Fear The Walking Dead fans may now be excited about the forthcoming premiere of the original show's sixth season, but the idea of each series' group of characters crossing paths isn't one that's going to come to fruition according to FTWD executive producer Gale Anne Hurd.
Speaking to Deadline, Hurd explained: "Well, it's truly the rules of the universe. I mean our group of survivors in The Walking Dead haven't even made it as far as Washington D.C. yet, in six seasons, and they are not that far away. So for the Fear characters to make it across the country? For what? I mean why would you go there? I mean how would we motivate our characters to head to D.C., or you know to head to the Southeast? I just don't think that that's something that would be a natural outgrowth of who our characters are and where they are when the show begins."
When presented with the idea that a lot of producers would jump at the chance to cross the shows over, Hurd explained that the integrity of the franchise would be compromised if that's the direction in which she chose to go.
"That is truly jumping the shark because it's not an outgrowth of who your characters are, what it is that each wants and needs. You're trying to contort them so that they'll fit into a plot line that simply isn't logical. I think the thing is to care for the characters.
"That's what has enabled The Walking Dead to go into its sixth season incredibly strong, because you care about individual characters be it Rick, Michonne or Daryl Dixon or Morgan. You care about the new characters that are introduced. You know what the rules are and you also know that whatever you expect will happen likely won't, or if it does it'll happen with a unique twist. So I think the same will apply to Fear."
She continued: "You know in The Walking Dead, when Rick Grimes wakes up in a coma, it's been a month in, so we didn't see how those institutions that we rely upon begin to fail us and what that does to us. So Fear was an opportunity now to explore that. And going forward we will not be traversing the same terrain either in terms of literal geography or storylines that we've seen in The Walking Dead."
Fear The Walking Dead returns for a second season in 2016, whilst The Walking Dead returns for its sixth season in the US on Sunday October 11 on AMC at 9pm eastern, coming to the UK the day after on Monday, October 12 at 9pm on FOX.
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